


Off the Record

by samsg1



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode: s03e17 A Hundred Days, Episode: s04e03 Upgrades, Episode: s04e05 Divide and Conquer, Episode: s06e15 Paradise Lost, Episode: s08e18 Threads, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23824333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samsg1/pseuds/samsg1
Summary: Four times Hammond talks with Sam off the record about her feelings for her CO.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 32
Kudos: 104





	1. 1999

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the events of A Hundred Days, Season 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big shoutout to tinknevertalks for betaing!

George got out of his car and immediately noticed the neglected lawn framing the otherwise picturesque suburban home of Major Samantha Carter. Heaps of fallen golden leaves adorned the bushels of grass. He’d obtained her address from her personnel file, and now laying eyes upon her home for the first time he was struck by the thought that somehow this type of home doesn’t seem to fit his image of the Major. He imagined something more concrete and dark; he’d probably seen her in her lab too often, he thought to himself. In fact, not too long ago she had spent an entire _three months_ holed up in her lab. He had been astounded to receive a call from payroll to say that a certain Major hadn’t clocked off the base for thirty days straight, and he had been even more surprised at her borderline insubordination with him when he had insisted that she go home. Less of a surprise to him was to see her check-in time pop back up on the personnel spreadsheet less than twelve hours later. She really was as stubborn as her father, but he couldn’t fault her for it. She’d gotten the Colonel home- inventing a whole new subset of particle physics along the way- both points having pleased the bigwigs at the Pentagon. So he’d let it, and her, be.

When she answered the door he wasn’t surprised by her reaction. She looked utterly blind sided by his appearance, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. One of the perks of being a General was watching subordinate officers sweat in one’s presence.

“General! I-I wasn’t expecting you! Urm, come in, Sir,” she stammered, waving a hand in invitation.

“Thank you Major,” and he stepped into her hallway, taking in his surroundings. Neat and minimal, as expected. A few framed childhood pictures of her and Jacob adorned the staircase wall, and another of her brother, Mark, and his kids sits next to the phone on a low table. He’d known the Carters for so long but it had been a long time since he’d seen her brother. He wondered how old the kids in the photo must be by now.

“I must say, Sir, it’s a little strange to see you off-base out of uniform,” she managed, looking a little embarrassed by her admission. He thought the same of her, wearing her simple white cardigan and pale blue jeans. It was odd to him how positively normal she looked, and to imagine how people must pass by her on the streets with zero inkling of the military and scientific miracles she could pull off on a daily basis. That is, assuming she ever goes out, such the workaholic that she was; the youngest of the Carters, George had always known Sam to be serious about her studies growing up. She had always been extremely respectful to himself and the other military fathers they’d known, unlike the disdain her brother had always shown the officers after their mother’s death. But Sam had always been a bit on the quiet side when the old Air Force buddies had shared family barbeques back in the day. He was proud of the confidence she had later built and the strong officer she had become, and was even more glad that she and Jacob had mended fences and that he was back in her life. And his own life too, for that matter.

“I’m sorry to turn up unexpectedly, Major,” he said at last, after pulling his head out of his nostalgic thoughts. “I just wanted to speak with you off-base. You know, off-record.”

“I see, Sir,” she replied, looking both intrigued and concerned, and he took a seat in an armchair. He watched as she followed suit, taking a seat opposite him. “Oh! Do you need anything to drink, Sir?” she suddenly added, jumping back up to attention.

“At ease, Major, I’m fine. I won’t take much of your time,” he smiled assuredly. He was amused by her jittery behaviour towards having him in her house. “How are you holding up with everything?”

“Fine, Sir.” Should have seen that coming. Maybe I should be more specific, he thought to himself.

“So with Colonel Makepeace arrested, I’m planning to reinstate Colonel O’Neill as commander of SG-1,” he prompted.

“I’m glad, Sir. When will we be back on rotation?” ‘As eager as ever to get back to work,’ he thought.

“About that. Has Colonel O’Neill had time to fill you all in on the circumstances of his mission?”

“Yes Sir, he did a fine job convincing us all, Colonel Maybourne included, of course. I’m glad the mission was a success.”

“Jack begged for you all to be allowed in on the plan, but the Asgard were insistent on it only being him in the know,” the General started, steering the conversation towards the matter he'd come to discuss. “He told me that he had been forced to say harsh things to you all to keep his cover, and I have to say I sensed some tension between you yesterday. I want to be sure that the air is clear between you all before putting you all back out in the field.”

“I understand that everything he said was part of the mission. We all do. Everything is fine between us, Sir.”

A perfectly neutral answer, again as expected. “Really? Announcing he was returning to Edora permanently after you’d put all that hard work to bring him back must have hurt.”

“It was a credible cover story to get the Colonel access to the gate,” she replied, keeping her expression unphased. “I understand that now.”

“But at the time?” He watched as she paused, considering an answer, but he continued before she had a chance. “You barely left your lab, let alone the base for three months working tirelessly to bring him back. Why?”

“We don’t leave our people behind, Sir,” came the automatic answer.

“We wouldn’t have done either, the Tok’ra would have had a ship there in a year.”

“How could I have sat around knowing there may be a way of getting him back in a quarter of the time?”

“There was no way to know if he was even still alive,” he baited. “Do you know the cost your project incurred, not to mention the hoops I had to go through taking SG-1 off rotation even though the Colonel was declared MIA?” She seemed a little taken aback, but he continued on. “And working to the point of exhaustion? Dr Frasier came to me several times with concerns. And when I finally ordered you off base I was met with resistance-”

“I appreciate all you did for me, and for the Colonel. And I apologize for any transgressions," she did look genuinely apologetic. "I admit I did become a little engrossed in the problem at hand, Sir.” 

‘Just a little?’ he thought. “You were short with your team members”, he continued. “Your behaviour was rash, and I heard complaints from a couple of the scientists about your behaviour, too.”

“Again, I’m sorry Sir. I was very eager to get the Colonel home, which I did, and of course to return the stranded Edorans home too,” she answered, looking a little sheepish.

He hated having to grill her but as base commander he had to ensure that all team dynamics were strictly professional and functional. And as the flagship team of the SGC operation, if there were any signs of any hindrance of judgement of SG-1 team members, he would face part of the fallout. “Would you say you let personal feelings towards the Colonel affect your behaviour and approach toward rescuing him from Edora, even when there wasn’t even any evidence that he was still alive?”

He watched as her expression changed red and her posture became defensive. Then she did her best to cover it up before answering with, “I don’t know what you mean Sir. I would have done the same had it been Daniel or Teal’c.”

He felt bad for this interrogation, he really did, especially when he was so fond of the Major, having known her most of her life. Sometimes being a General was tough. “It hasn’t escaped anyone’s attention that the last two times we’ve encountered an alternate universe, you and the Colonel have been in an intimate relationship.”

Her expression was now full-on deer-in-headlights mode. She appeared utterly mortified.

“I- Sir, I can assure you that in this universe there is nothing between the Colonel and I.” She looked like she wanted a black hole to swallow her up. “He’s a valuable member of the SGC program, and I consider him a friend. That’s all.”

The General took her in. She did seem sincere. Whether or not she was covering for herself, and who could blame her if she were, truthfully he didn’t like the idea of being forced to break up the team anyway, not when there wasn't any real evidence of any digression either. And compared to the other SG teams, SG-1 seemed to have a great dynamic that just simply _worked_ , and he didn’t want to end that success, especially when the fate of the world may depend on their ongoing unity.

“Very well, Major,” he said after a pause, and he saw as her tension appeared to lessen slightly. “As long as I have your assurance.”

“You do, Sir. There is absolutely nothing inappropriate between us, Sir,” she finished, putting all the confidence she could muster into her words.

“Then I’ll see you at the base tomorrow,” George said standing up, excusing himself from the house of a rather humiliated Major. He hoped he wouldn’t have to return to her house again under such circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come! Hoping to update daily!


	2. 2000

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place a week after the events of Season 4's Divide and Conquer.

Not even six months later George was back on her doorstep.

With Daniel busy finishing up brokering the Tau’ri-Tok’ra treaty, SG-1 was on some much-needed downtime. Jack was finally in Minnesota on the fishing trip he'd been trying to escape to for weeks. He'd given explicit instructions that he was not to be contacted- not even if Thor needed him- though George personally felt that his word would have very little impact on the little Asgard's whims. And Teal’c had taken some personal time to be with his family on Chulak. He'd secretly wondered what his wife would have thought of the incident with the Jaffa priestess Drey’auc, and wondered whether polygamy was a thing among Jaffa. He made a mental note to ask Dr Jackson.

He’d managed to corner Jack at his house before he'd fled to his cabin a week before, and now had been waiting for the opportunity to catch the Major at her home for another ‘off the record’ conversation. And boy this time she had really put her foot in it. Truthfully he was dreading the talk, and it hadn’t helped that despite the so-called downtime SG-1 were on, she had spent the entire past week at the SGC. He’d had to resort to asking the airmen at the top-side gates to let him know when the Major left the base as he’d decided not to order her off-base this time to give her some space to deal with her grief for Martouf. He was aware she’d been chasing up the Tok’ra on his symbiote’s condition. The base rumour mill also had it that she was working on a motorcycle down in the labs with Siler of all people, though he hadn’t seen anything of it.

It was Tuesday evening when the call had finally come that Major Carter had gone home. And pigs had been seen flying in the sky. Deciding to give her the night to get settled at home, he’d thought ahead and put Colonel Reynolds in charge of the morning shift until he could get back on-base, and headed towards her idyllic one-storey just before lunch next morning.

He wasn’t particularly surprised to see her answer the door with the same bewildered look she had done last autumn. There was a nip in the now spring air; he saw as the Major drew her lounge robe together over her baggy t-shirt to warm herself, and was once again invited in.

He observed that her living room looked different this time round. A little more lived in- he was glad to see- but surprisingly unkempt. What was presumably last night’s take out-for-one was left on the dining table, as well as some used tissues strewn alongside a half-full bottle of wine. He knew the symbiote she had previously carried’s mate had been Martouf; he couldn’t imagine the guilt she must be feeling for having been forced to kill him. The smell of recently-brewed coffee wafted through the room, and he wondered if she’d only just gotten up following a late night. He felt a little abashed to be seeing this small glimpse into the private world of the SGC’s golden girl.

After refusing her kind offer of a cup of coffee, and following a brief conversation asking about whether there was any update on Lantash’s condition, he decided to cut to the chase so he could be done with it and allow her her privacy once again. This wasn’t going to be pretty, but time had run short, and he was being forced to deal with the matter at hand. Raising his shoulder into business mode, he began.

“I think you know why I’m here, Major.” Looking at her he could tell that she had a guess, but she didn’t answer. She looked rather dejected, suddenly finding her palms interesting. “I think you’ll be glad to hear that the video footage of the za’tarc testing mysteriously went missing.”

“Sir?” She looked up, eyebrows raised in disbelief. He noticed the grey under her eyes for the first time. She seemed to have aged since his last visit.

“However, Anise provided me with a full transcript of your retest in her report.” She looked absolutely horrified at these words, she didn't seem to know what to do with her hands, finally deciding to bury her face in them. “I’m still figuring out how to doctor her report before I have to submit my own tomorrow. The Pentagon has been breathing down my neck asking for it, wanting to know how you and the Colonel both managed to get the false positive readings, but with the Tau’ri-Tok’ra treaty I’d managed to put it off until now.” She'd placed her hands on her knees and was back to staring at them, still saying nothing. George wondered how many times Jacob must have seen his Sam in this exact position, in trouble for something or other in her teenage years. “Major, this really is a doozy you and the Colonel have put yourself, and myself, in here,” he sighed.

After a pause, she finally spoke. “Are we going to get taken off the team?”

“It’s a possibility, but off the record, truth be told I really don’t want to see that happening. SG-1 is the best of the best, and that comes from the four of you being together.” He watched as she nodded her agreement, but said nothing for a while. “I spoke to the Colonel,” he started gently, and saw as Sam buried her face in her hands in grimace. “He agrees. But he risked his life- no, worse than that- he was prepared to give up his life because he refused to leave you behind. And we cannot allow that to happen. You are each unexpendable officers.We cannot allow for any personal feelings between you leading you to bad decisions like that in the field.”

He watched for her reaction, but her face was still hidden beneath her hands. “Are you in love with him, Sam?” He watched as she froze, but remained silent. And who could blame her? For one moment he was worried she might start crying beneath her fingers. He couldn’t face dressing her down for lying to him previously, or even for falling in love with her CO. Honestly, could she even have helped it? Jack was a good, honest man, and the two had faced death together, hell, they’d literally been to hell and back together side-by-side. How these people kept their sanity was beyond him. He couldn’t help but sympathize with their situation, and in truth, becoming a grandfather had softened him a little in recent years. So he decided to take a gentler tone. “I can understand from being in the field myself that you can’t help get close to those you work with. You try to keep a straight head on you, but relationships form-“

“Sir,” she finally interrupted, “the Colonel and I have absolutely no intention of having a relationship that is anything other than purely professional.”

“You talked?”

“Yes, Sir.” He couldn’t imagine that had been more than a brief conversation of awkwardness, but was glad to hear they had been adult enough to broach the topic at all.

“And you’re both okay with that?”

“Yes, Sir,” she replied adamantly. “There’s a lot at stake. The whole planet, in fact. I’m not going to risk my career and the mission over this.”

“Jack said the same,” George replied, and saw that the Major seemed relieved. Boy, what a situation indeed. He tried to imagine what Jacob would say if he found out about this, assuming Anise hadn’t already told him. Jacob hadn’t let anything on, though the treaty negotiations wouldn’t exactly have been a good opportunity to bring up the subject anyway. He hoped Jacob wouldn’t find out, for Jack’s safety at least! And then the Pentagon’d have all their heads if they ever found out he was knowingly allowing them to stay on the team with this _mess_ \- for lack of a better word - between them. But as far as he could see, the fight against the Goa’uld was best fought with all four current members of SG-1 on the team. Any other team, hell, any other mission and it’d be an easy decision but they were out there fighting a damn space war, and they, and the he himself, really had the entire world’s fate in their hands. It was a humbling thought, to have been entrusted such a huge responsibility. And truly, when it came down to it, he thought, who better to trust to put the planet’s interests first than Jack and Sam? These two exemplary officers, well, okay Jack’s record had its sketchy parts, but when it came down to his core, he was a man with an unwavering moral compass. Sam too, of course. Truthfully, they were two of the most honourable officers he had known in his entire career. They would both fight tooth and nail for the planet, and he would bet his life savings that if anyone could keep their feelings in check for the sake of their careers and the whole planet, it would be them. ‘Decision made, then,’ he surmised to himself. “Okay, Major. Now that I’ve talked to you both, I am confident that you both have Earth’s best interest in mind first and foremost, and that you both have the self-restraint to continue to remain professional in your duties at all times. Don’t make me regret my decision.”

“Absolutely not, Sir,” came her adamant, confident answer. Her eyes burned into his with the kind of pleading he’d known her to make in the briefing room begging for more time to study a piece of technology brought back that was due to be shipped off to Area 51. He always found it hard to say no to her.

“Understood. I will change certain details of the whole Za'tarc testing... _incident_ -“

“Thank you, Sir,” she interrupted.

“-But let me be very clear,” he continued, standing up and assuming his best authoritative General stance, “you of all people know what’s at stake. I don’t want to have this conversation with either of you again. Do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly, Sir,” came her strong reply, still remaining seated on the sofa. She really did look like a teenage version of herself, in trouble for being caught with a boy.

“Good. And do me a favour, Sam,” making sure she was meeting his eyes before continuing, “if you value Jack’s life, I’d make sure Jacob doesn’t catch wind of any of this,” finishing with a twinkle in his eye. And leaving her looking mortified all over again, he excused himself and showed himself out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come! :)


	3. 2002

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set during Season 6's Paradise Lost. Mentions of events in Abyss and Smoke and Mirrors.

The General had been pleased to see that his two top officers had indeed kept their word, and as far as he could see, had remained perfectly professional the last couple of years. He’d been saddened initially to observe that their relationship had seemed to somewhat deteriorate after the loss of Jackson, but he’d reassured himself that it was probably for the best. The knowing glances he used to pretend not to see flit between them across the briefing room table had completely stopped. Jack’s teasing of Sam’s technobabble and long-winded explanations during briefings was at an all-time low, and her sentences directed at the Colonel had become more punctuated with ‘Sirs’ than ever. He'd wondered if they’d had a fight after the loss of their close friend. But now, more than half a year since they'd had to get a new team member, dents had started appearing in the wall they’d built up, and he had already observed that Sam’d had been close to breaking a couple of times this year. Just like the time when Jack’d been stranded on Edora, Sam hadn’t left the base for several weeks straight starting with him taking the Tok’ra symbiote when he’d been close to death, then while frantically researching his disappearance, and finally for the duration of his long and messy recovery after the stint in Ba’al’s fortress. That had been a horrendous time. And Sam had blamed herself for convincing Jack to blend with the Tok'ra even when he loathed snakes. And then just last month Sam had worked tirelessly to investigate the Colonel’s imprisonment for having been falsely accused of shooting Kinsey, and almost lost her life in the process. And now, not two weeks later, Jack was missing _again_ , and this time Sam blamed herself for apparently allowing Maybourne to take her weapon, and was once again fully determined to get him back. He knew better than to stand in her way when she became ‘engrossed’, as she’d once put it, in saving her CO. But now circumstances would have it that two reports sat on his desk, and an old problem had risen again.

One report had been submitted by the scientist Dr Lee; the other had been sent to him from a contact in Washington. And that was precisely why he had just summoned Major Carter to his office.

When she finally arrived, notably less punctual than usual and having a somewhat irate air to her, she huffed an ‘You called me, General?’ and came in, arms initially folded before seeming to decide otherwise and held her arms down by her side in a more military stance.

“Somewhere you’d rather be, Major?” George inquired, eyebrow raised. He’d allow her a pass for the slightly insubordinate air she was giving off for now, hopefully she’d be smart enough to decide for herself to keep it in check after he finished what he had to say.

“No, Sir, of course not.” He watched as she flustered before sighing. “Sorry Sir, it’s just Jonas and I just had a bit of a breakthrough on the remote device-“

“I’m glad to hear that. I won’t keep you long, then.” He was glad that Sam wasn’t shouldering the entire burden on getting the Colonel back alone this time. She’d almost booked herself a bed in the infirmary for exhaustion last time Jack had gone missing off-world. Also, he was amused to observe that Jonas had a similar knack to his predecessor for wanting to burn the midnight oil working on translation puzzles and getting his fellow team members back. It seemed after all that Jack had indeed found a suitable replacement for Daniel on SG-1, despite his own personal early misgivings. “Major, I understand your frustration at the lack of progress on the transportation device on P5X-777, and I _know_ how badly you want to get the Colonel back,” he tried his best to emphasize the knowing part with his eyes, not wanting to say more on base with the cameras on, “but I need to inform you that a complaint was filed by one of the scientists working with you one the planet.” He indicated with a nod towards the offending report. The Major’s expression remained neutral.

“I see,” she said after a pause. “May I presume it was Dr. Lee? I can explain-“ she started.

“You can save it for another time,” he interrupted, raising his hand to stop her. There would be an investigation at some point, and she may have to face consequences for her behaviour on the planet, but he’d make sure to push that back to allow her to focus on the search and rescue of her CO. “There is a more pressing issue, the rescue of Colonel O’Neill notwithstanding.”

“Oh?”

“As you know Senator Kinsey has announced that he is running for President.”

“Yes, Sir.” He shared her eye roll, he held a distaste for the man as much as she did. “I saw the press conference with the Colonel in attendance.”

“Unfortunately, my sources tell me,” he took a glance at the camera in his office, hoping the Major would catch his drift that he was trying to keep the conversation as brief and vague as possible, “he’s taking this opportunity to do a little digging on various people.” He lowered his voice slightly. “Including members of the SGC. And you.”

“Me?” she asked, looking taken aback.

George sighed, wanting to tell her more, but felt hesitant in case his office was bugged. He leaned forward, and lowered his voice further. The Major took a step forward. “We suspect he’s looking for political leverage over us if he takes office, or over his running mate if he loses top spot,” he stated in a hushed tone. “You of all people know he has bad blood with Colonel O’Neill, too. I know you’re frustrated and stressed right now but I need you to keep a clear head. Best behaviour. Don’t do anything that gives Kinsey any fodder to use against you, or fuel anything that might be construed _certain ways_ with you and your _team mates_ ,” doing his best to indicate to her that he was referring to the matter he had had to discuss in her home two years prior.

He watched her take a deep breath and regain her military composure. “Understood, Sir,” she said, meeting his eyes.

Satisfied with her reply, and that she was indicating that she’d gotten the hidden message he was trying to tell her, he ordered, “Good, now go bring the Colonel back, Major.”

“Yes, Sir!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so technically this conversation wasn't off the record, sorry!


	4. 2004

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place at the end of Threads, after Anubis' defeat but before they head to Jack's cabin.
> 
> Final shoutout to tinknevertalks for betaing and humouring all my questions!

It was a beautiful summer’s evening, and a gentle warm wind played around with some fallen green leaves and a couple of strewn paper cups in Major Carter’s backyard. Jacob had loved parties. He would have enjoyed the exchange of old stories, the good food and equally good company; just like the old barbecues they used to hold all those years ago. Except that now Jacob was gone for good.

The party was winding down, and most of the guests were saying their goodbyes and last condolences to the Carters. After hanging back with Jack to help with the cleaning up, George watched as Sam gave her niece and nephew last squeezes and kisses, and the same to her sister-in-law. They reminded him of his own daughter and two grandchildren. He’d been glad to have finally been able to meet the other Carters, though he wished it had been under happier circumstances. He had been happy to see that Sam still had such family, even after the loss of Jacob. And then there was her brother. He watched the somewhat awkward hug between her and her brother before seeing him stumble and struggle to get into the taxi that would take them back to their hotel. He’d tried not to overhear them bicker earlier in the wake, but it had been difficult when a beer-fueled Mark had suddenly yelled at Sam in front of everyone for calling off her wedding with their mutual friend, accusing her of ‘throwing away her last chance at happiness’. His wife and Teal’c had been forced to drag him down into the basement- followed by a red-faced and apologetic Sam- to continue the hushed argument downstairs. George hadn’t failed to notice the knowing smirk on General O’Neill’s face as he’d sipped on his beer before setting it down and breaking the tension by playing animatedly with the Carter kids. He wondered if Jack had been aware that she was newly single. He wondered if, and felt himself hope, that Jack’d played a part in her decision.

He saw that Sam had at last managed to bundle her drunken brother into the taxi, and with a last “I’ll call you in the morning!” and a wave, he watched as she turned back to her house. His own taxi would be turning up in ten minutes, and Teal’c had already driven himself and Daniel home thirty minutes’ previously as Daniel was preparing to fly out to a second funeral the next day- Catherine Langford’s. So now it was just the three of them remaining.

Following Sam back into her house, he found Jack collecting the last of the empty bottles into a plastic bag in the living room. Rapidly feeling like a third wheel, George decided he’d make his ‘offer’ quick, before giving the two some privacy.

“I was hoping to catch you both before I left for Washington in the morning.”

“It’s been so good to see you, Sir,” said Sam, wrapping her arms around him. She’d had just as much to drink as her brother, though she’d obviously gotten lucky with the Carter genes as she could hold down her liquor a little better than her younger counterpart. She was clearly still on a beer buzz, though. He smirked at the danger of knowingly leaving the pair together after his own taxi arrived, but then again, unbeknownst to them, he was retiring very, very soon, and after everything these two had done for the planet, heck, the _galaxy_ , he certainly wasn’t going to stand in their way.

Sam unwrapped herself from him, and went back to standing (with an ever so slight wobble) a respectable distance from himself and Jack. He decided he’d just come straight out with his news. It had been a long day and quite frankly, he was looking forward to hitting the hay at his daughter’s house, where he stayed whenever he was in town. 

“I'm retiring,” he said simply.

Jack was the first to recover from the unexpected news. “Déjà vu.”

“For real this time, Jack. You’ve all done a fantastic job at Stargate Command, and now that the war with the Goa’uld and the Replicators is officially over, the Pentagon and the DOD are doing some shuffling around, and I’ve been given the opportunity to bow out now, so I’m taking it.”

“Good for you, George, you’ve earned it,” Jack replied with genuine warmth.

“Wow, we’re really going to miss you, Sir,” said Sam. “Do you know who’s replacing you?” 

George took his time thinking over his words. Officially he shouldn’t be telling them any of this, but out of respect for everything they’d done for the planet and everything they’d sacrificed for the sake of the mission, he’d decided he’d tell them as soon as he’d heard the news. He wanted to give them as much thinking time as possible. They were owed that much. “Jack, they’re going to call you in to Washington for a briefing this week. I wanted to give you a heads up before they throw this at you.” He watched as the pair glanced at each other. “They’re promoting you again and putting you in charge of Homeworld Security.”

He watched as Sam gasped, looking between himself and Jack, as though waiting for one of them to tell her it was a joke. Jack’s expression was unreadable as always, but he knew Jack was probably fuming inside. He’d already read Jack’s retirement email, though he’d had to leave it sitting in his inbox.

“George,” Jack finally began after what seemed like a long pause. “You know how much I hate flying a desk. The Goa’uld are gone,” he said waving his arms to emphasise his point. “Replicators’ kaput, the mission’s complete. _Finire_ ,” he said in an emphasised mock Italian accent. “All I want to do now is put my feet up with a cold one, do some fishing, and maybe pursue other interests,” and he shot a smile and a not-so-subtle look at his second-in-command, making her face flush even more so than the beer ever could.

“Jack, I know. I get it.” He really did. Despite the level of professionalism they’d always shown on base, barring that Za’tarc incident of course, he reckoned most people on the base with a pair of eyes also probably knew by now. The topic of Sam and Jack had kept the base rumour mill churning for years. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you before you were called.” He turned to Sam. “To _both_ of you.”

“Sir, I don’t know what you mean-” Sam started automatically, but Jack interrupted, apparently not in the mood to hide any of his intentions. At least that would make things easier, he thought.

“The SGC’s under Homeworld’s chain-of-command. I don’t have any plan to move to Washington, not when I finally have a chance of being with Carter!”

George watched Sam with amusement as she looked away, trying and failing to hide a grin on her face. Jack on the other hand seemed surprisingly quite unabashed.

“Jack, I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do. The decision was made even before I got your message.” He was genuinely sorry. He wanted nothing more than for his two comrades to be happy. Heck, he didn’t know anyone that deserved to be happy more than these two. 

“For cryin’ out loud,” was all Jack could say, kicking his foot against the floor rug tassels in defeat.

Sam had finally recovered enough to speak. “I could retire instead-”

“Absolutely not,” Jack dismissed harshly. “You are not throwing away your career for me, I’m not worth that. Not when you’re on track to make stars some day.”

George studied the two. He didn’t know how the hell they’d managed to put duty before their feelings this long, and now that the war was over he felt they should have to wait any longer, but while it wasn’t hopeless for them, what he had to propose would take compromise. “It’s not ideal but I do have a way out of this situation.”

“Oh?”

“Nevada,” he simply stated, looking at Sam. She looked puzzled, her brain probably sluggish from several beer and the day’s long events. “Area 51,” he clarified. “They’ve been begging for you to head R&D for years.”

“But Area 51 falls under Homeworld Security, Sir,” she countered after a pause, brain catching up.

“Not if you transfer there before Jack’s promotion, and trust me, they’d take you tomorrow if they could. Then you’ve got six weeks before Jack has to be in Washington.” He lowered his voice and looked around, in mock suggestion that someone was listening in. “So if you can come up with a way of protecting yourselves _legally_ in the intervening time,” he raised his eyebrows suggestively, “before Jack’s back above you, then what can be done?” He finished with a glint in his eyes.

If he’d ever imagined their reaction at suggesting they get married, it certainly wasn’t this. He watched as the two top officers seemed to devolve into teenagers before his eyes.

“Nevada, ‘ey? Could always hit up Vegas on your day off...?” Jack suggested teasingly, grabbing an empty bottle from the bag he was still holding like a pretend mic and shaking his hips in an awful Elvis impersonation. Exactly what number of beers was Jack up to?

“What? Jack, no!” Sam countered, leaning towards him to punch him in jest on the arm, losing her step and missing his arm entirely. “Actually what I’d always thought-”

“Like you ever stop thinking...” he teased.

“Well you of all people should know by now, _Sir_ -” in the most outrageously insurbordinate and flirtatious articulation of the term George had heard in his entire Military career.

Their exchange was interrupted by the sudden sound of a car horn from the front. ‘Thank God, taxi’s here,’ he thought. He truly wished them well and wanted nothing but happiness for the pair, but honestly he’d sooner see the Replicators’ return than have to endure seeing his two finest officers flirting drunkenly again if he could help it. And as he crossed the yard he overheard Jack ask, “So what’s your favourite Elvis song, Carter?”

“Shut up, Jack,” came Sam’s answer in a low purr, at which George couldn’t close the taxi door hastily enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! The ending took a bit of a silly turn, I don't write fluff well anyway, and I think we could all use a bit of humour these days!
> 
> I took liberty and assumed that Sam and Jack had time to talk between Jacob's death and his funeral, and though I'm assuming nothing serious happened between them yet, they were on friendly terms by this point. I'll leave it to you to imagine the rest of Sam and Jack's conversation after George left ;)
> 
> Comments and feedback encourage me to keep writing stories!


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